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Sunday, November 15, 2026Nov 15

In Greece, taxis help with race to deliver booster shots

Georgia Bisti-Bavella, 97, smiles as she receives a booster Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021. Public health authorities in Greece have stepped up a campaign to deliver booster shots to seniors and people with mobility difficulties at home – with one agency outside Athens hiring taxis to take healthcare workers to where the vaccinations are needed. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Georgia Bisti-Bavella, 97, smiles as she receives a booster Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021. Public health authorities in Greece have stepped up a campaign to deliver booster shots to seniors and people with mobility difficulties at home – with one agency outside Athens hiring taxis to take healthcare workers to where the vaccinations are needed. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Long before the pandemic and mobile apps, Greeks took pride in their delivery culture, the ease with which hot meals, repaired items, coffees and cold beers could appear in minutes by motorbike or carried on a hanging tray.

This Christmas season, a life-saving service has been added to the list.

Booster shots are being delivered by taxi as the country races to shore up its defenses before the widely expected impact of the omicron variant.

Health services are distributing the shots also using municipal vans or with doctors simply sent out on foot to reach older people, and people with disabilities like Athens resident Eleni Louka.

The 74-year-old, recovering from a lumbar fracture, got her booster Wednesday after health care workers arrived in a commissioned cab.